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My new favorite table

Star Wars Pinball Finally Hits Wii U!

Star Wars Pinball has been out for a while now but I’ve been holding out for the Wii U version. Pretty much just because I absolutely LOVE off-TV play to the point where I even wrote a whole post about it. Now Star Wars Pinball hits the Wii U eShop tomorrow so even more people can enjoy it. Zen Studios was kind enough to provide us with a review code last week and ever since then I’ve been putting the tables through their paces. These are my thoughts on each:

Star Wars Pinball Empire Strikes Back
My new favorite table

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

This is probably my new favorite table, overtaking Epic Quest and Captain America. Not only is it based on one of my favorite movies but the table itself has a really nice layout and strong visual and audio appeal. Lightsabers launch and redirect the ball, iconic scenes are visually played out with characters and ships, and familiar sound effects and voices can all be heard. The table definitely has fantastic presentation without getting a case of style over substance. The difficulty seems to be pretty good as well. I was able to keep my first ball around for quite a bit before it drained and I was even able to perform several bang backs, which usually give me a measure of trouble on other Zen tables. The table is also fairly easy to understand which is a real plus.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Not my favorite among the Star Wars tables but by no means bad. It’s based off of the Clone Wars TV series, which I do really enjoy but unfortunately I never got around to watching more than a few episodes. Due to that several of the references and missions are lost on me and I didn’t get the same kind of familiarity enjoyment out of it as I did with Episode V. It’s still a pretty good table, though, and it has some neat and challenging missions. Upon first seeing the table I was a bit overwhelmed and it took me a while to get a hang of the layout and where the lanes re-directed. I also found it to be a more challenging table and hitting specific lanes gave me some trouble. Still, a fun table and probably even more so if you’ve watched the show.

 Boba Fett

I’ll admit that at first I was not digging this table but it really started to grow on me. There are some really neat Boba Fett inspired visuals and seeing the bounty hunter himself puttering around the various parts of the table is really cool. It’s hard not to be a fan of Fett. I really like the skill shot on this table, probably because I can actually get it almost every time. You can also choose to take bounty missions from either the Empire or the Hutts in order to raise your respect level. I’m not entirely sure what happens when you max that out because I’m pretty terrible, but I imagine it must be something awesome. One really cool feature which helps inept players, like myself, are the rockets Boba Fett can acquire along they way. During missions you can press the launch button to shoot a homing rocket and knock out one of the flashing lanes. This can be such a lifesaver.

The Future of Star Wars Pinball

I’m really excited to see what future Star Wars tables Zen Studious is going to bring us. Personally, I’d LOVE to see a KotOR table, Lego Star Wars table, Rogue Squadron, Jedi Knight, Return of the Jedi, and TIE Fighter table. They have so many awesome options available and I can’t wait until we get more. Until then I’ll be enjoying some of the best Zen Pinball tables released yet.